Treatment of infants with deformational plagiocephaly with cranial remodeling bands has become a standard of care in the United States. Cranial Technologies, Inc. the assignee of the present invention pioneered this treatment.
Cranial Technologies, Inc. has further carried forward with its pioneering efforts by the development of an image capturing system that captures three-dimensional images of the entirety of the surface of an object, in general, and the entirety of the surface of a head, in particular. The Cranial Technologies, Inc. image capturing system is described in the above-identified patents and application.
Cranial Technologies, Inc. recognized that any imaging system to be used in a clinical setting had to be robust, easy to use, and easy to calibrate and maintain without the need for hiring additional technical staff to run the equipment.
The Cranial Technologies, Inc. image capturing system captures accurate three-dimensional images of heads and is configured such that the head having its image captured does not have to be stationary or fixed in one particular orientation. The Cranial Technologies system captures a three-dimensional digitized image of the entirety of the head even though the subject may move in a generally non-predetermined manner within a predetermined space. A sequence of instantaneous three-dimensional images may be captured to provide a movie of the head as it moves.
The Cranial Technologies, Inc. system utilizes a plurality of image capturing device groups. Each group comprises a plurality of image capturing devices arranged as a module. The image capturing devices define a space wherein a head may be disposed. The head is movable within the space. The image capturing device groups are positioned such that each group is positioned to capture a group of first images of a corresponding surface portion of the head. Each group of first images captures a substantially different surface portion of the head disposed within the space.
In the Cranial Technologies, Inc. system each group includes digital cameras and a projector that projects random infrared patterns onto the head to instantaneously capture a 360° full surface image of the object. The image is acquired in 0.008 seconds and processed for viewing in software. The data acquired is viewable on a display or printed out as a point cloud, wire frame, or surface, on which a digital photograph (i.e. texture) is automatically overlaid. A texture overlay of the head may be provided. The use of a texture overlay permits advantageous visual confirmation of the identity of the subject.
In the Cranial Technologies, Inc. system each group is supported on corresponding individual tripod structures that are individually positioned and adjusted to predetermined positions relative to each other.
Although the Cranial Technologies, Inc. system is highly effective, it is desirable to provide a structure for the system that requires ensures accurate and consistent imaging from installation to installation by providing physically consistent placement of the imaging devices and further does not require periodic physical adjustment to maintain the placement.